India decides to extend visa-on-arrival to tourists from 180 nations
India has decided to keep Pakistan out of its visa-on-arrival (VoA) facilities effective from October.
The country made the decision on Wednesday, The Times of India report made the disclosure on Thursday.
Apart from Pakistan, seven other countries, which will not get the India VoA benefits, are: Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia and Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh, along with 179 other countries, will enjoy VoA benefits and electronic travel authorisation (ETA) in India.
In this regard, Indian Planning Minister Rajiv Shukla said: “We have decided to extend visa-on-arrival to tourists from 180 nations. It will take 5-6 months to put the infrastructure in place. We hope to implement this from the next tourist session beginning October.”
The facilities will be implemented initially at nine airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Goa and Trivandrum and are likely to be implemented by the end of the year.
According to ETA, travellers will be able to apply for a visa from their homes and receive an online confirmation in five working days. It will be available for a 30-day period from the date of the tourist’s arrival in India while VoA will also be for the same period for a single entry.
The country currently offers VoA to tourists from 11 countries such as Finland, the Philippines, Singapore and Japan. These countries will have to apply for visa through embassy.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
